Coryn, Roland

Coryn, Roland

Roland Coryn – Éléphantasia for contrabass solo (2001)

(Kortrijk, 1938)

Roland Coryn composed this piece in January 2001 at the request of the Flemish chamber music ensemble Arco Baleno, which wanted to add eight new pieces to a CD recording of Camille Saint-Saëns’s Le carnaval des animaux (1886), with each piece inspired by an animal. In addition to Roland Coryn, Boudewijn Buckinx, Yves Bondue, Frits Celis, Jan Huylebroeck, Marc Matthys, Lucien Posman and Petra Vermote all created a new animal composition as well.

For his contribution, Coryn drew inspiration from L’éléphant from Le carnaval des animaux, for a solo piece for contrabass. The composer wrote the following about this work: ‘In this piece, through a musical fantasia, I appealed to the virtuosity and musical acting skills of the soloist. You hear Saint-Saëns’s theme being distorted, caricatured, played in a comical manner or turned around. I also ask the soloist to not only prove his mastery of the instrument, but to put on a musical performance of a short scene as well. So he can take some liberties when it comes to tempo and breathing, because for the composer it is not possible to precisely write down every single idea that goes through his mind while composing. However, the composer can expect a fine interpreter to find the gaps and fill them in.’

This piece (duration: 6’45”) is packed with various characterizations, atmospheres, time signature changes and changes of dynamics, which requires a great effort of the performer.

If the piece is performed in a large venue, the composers recommends the use of amplifiers.

Éléphantasia was first performed in October 2001 together with seven other animal pieces and in 2004 it was released on the CD Carnaval des animaux by Arco Baleno (Etcetera KTC 1266). The score for this edition has been revised by the composer.

Jan Dewilde (translation: Jasmien Dewilde)

This score is published as part of the research project ‘Er staat een contrabas in de gang’: Vlaamse muziek voor contrabas solo van Labo XIX&XX (‘There is a double bass in the hallway’: Flemish music for solo double bass by Labo XIX&XX) (Royal Conservatoire of Antwerp – AP University College). This edition was made possible in collaboration with the Study Centre for Flemish Music (www.svm.be).

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